The best thing that ever happened to @pigspotter was the news that he was being searched for by members of the Johannesburg Metro Police for “defeating the ends of justice.” It turned him into a star and his Twitter following has now jumped to over 10 000, almost doubling overnight.
The story of pigspotter was picked up by Dineo Ranaka of YFM, then moved on to the BBC, before shooting around the internet, into the print media and onto the radio. Clearly, his actions have touched a nerve and tapped into the popular zeitgeist. Earlier this evening, he tweeted ” Thanks to 5fm, 94.7, YFM, Ofm,702, The Times and the Star. Oh, and E-news. I’ve been around today.”
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In case you haven’t heard, @pigspotter tweets the locations of Metro traffic cops that he sees in and around Johannesburg. He claims that most of the information is his own, but that he gets a lot of tips that he passes on to his followers.
His actions have the police up in arms about obstruction of justice, and about how @pigspotter helps drunken and illegal drivers escape the long arm of the law. One can’t help thinking the police are also irritated about being referred to as porkers and crackling all the time. These are the kind of tweets that are infurating the traffic police, “One piggy taking night time landscape pics on hans schoeman just after the corner by the spar going towards k’dorp. 60kmph zone.”
While the police take a dim view of his actions, Pigspotter defended himself by saying that “the police have to be visible when they are doing speed traps so them hiding themselves is illegal – that is why I do what I do”.
In one concession to the authorities, pigspotter will stop reporting on the roadblocks he comes across, as he is in agreement that they do serve a legitimate law-enforcement purpose. He has also proclaimed that he would like to meet with the Metro Police on neutral territory to have a frank discussion about the situation.
But clearly a taste for notoriety appeals to this crusader, and he shows no signs of buckling under the threat of law.
This could get very interesting.
